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some basics

[eta: this was a password-protected post previously. say that five times fast.]

i’m moving to la paz, or that’s the plan for now at least. i don’t know enough of the other cities in bolivia to really choose any of them, and most of my family is in la paz. it’s the capital, and in a country of about 9 million people, it has about 900,000 people. it’s situated in a valley on the edge of the altiplano – basically, a high plateau of the andes – of bolivia, and right next to it is the city of el alto which has been growing tremendously over the past few decades, and by now has probably outstripped la paz in terms of population. bolivia is twice the size of france but is fairly sparsely populated – except for the la paz/el alto area. so. cities, here i come again. ;)

my parents were building, and my mom just finished, a house outside of the city, in the village of achocalla. it’s a beautiful big house, and just down the hill from it, there’s a nice little chalet. that’s where i’ll be for a bit, hopefully not more than a week or two, until a place in the city is found. it’s beautiful out there, but i need dsl for one – i’m not even kidding – and secondly, i need my own place, my own kitchen, my own home. lots of mys there, i know. but it can’t be denied. plus i want to get to know this city better – it’s the city my parents met and courted in, the city that whenever i’m in it, i feel like i can see glimpses of them hurrying around the corner hand in hand, as they must have all those years ago. silly, i know. i have other very good reasons too, but this one is enough too.

since bolivia is in the southern hemisphere, i’m leaving the very pretty spring weather we’re having here in maryland right now and going straight to the end of fall/beginning of winter. sure to be a cold one, seeing that we’re 13,000 above sea level! but i won’t miss that famous maryland humidity once june, july, and august come rolling around, that’s for sure. plus, this gives me plenty of time to figure out how i’m going to have a garden for when summertime rolls around in november.

lastly, from what i’ve experienced and what i’ve been told, la paz has a heavy rainy season in january and february. so then why in the world does the weather forecast show this for the middle of april?? scary weather patterns around the world, i tell you. shiver.

{ posted 3 April 10 }

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